Tuesday, April 17, 2012

14 Aspens


When we bought our house a little over 10 years ago it came with a yard that was very nicely landscaped. We are not gardeners but, with a little (a lot)  help, we have managed to keep everything pretty well maintained. One of the areas I really liked was an area between our house and the house next door that was lined with Aspen trees. It was an attractive break between the two properties. Well, it turned out that those Aspen trees were not actually "between" the properties but fully on our neighbors property and last week they cut them down...all 14 of them.


When we first heard the chain saw roaring and looked out we thought maybe they were just trimming them or taking out a few that weren't healthy. We were wrong. By the end of the day they were gone.....all 14 of them. They  have since taken out every other bush and tree in their front yard. Their only explanation is that they want the yard to be easier to maintain since the husband travels a lot. I'm sure that when they complete their project everything will look very nice, but I sure do miss those Aspen trees.....all 14 of them.

The moral of my story: Don't get too attached to your neighbor's trees.

18 comments:

  1. Oh wow! That would make such a difference in how things look in the neighborhood and between your houses. It is sad they took all those trees out as well as everything else they are removing. I can see their point for simplicity, but sad that the trees, etc will be gone. Probably lost a bit of your privacy too!

    have a good one today Jeanie!

    betty

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  2. Oh my gosh, that's terrible and upsetting. You are going to miss those trees.

    I had a similar thing happen to me when we lived at the lake. The neighbors giant oak tree across the street from us shaded our front porch from the hot evening sun. We practically lived on that porch. They cut it down one day because they were scared that the roots might someday mess with the foundation of the house. The house had been there since the sixties and the oak tree had probably been there 100 years and hadn't damaged anything yet. My front porch was never the same...we sold the house about a year later.

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  3. Who in their right mind does something like that - especially with aspen trees! That's just too sad. We had a similar incident when my husband was doing construction and the boss bought an historic house in Madison GA and was going to fix it up. He began by tearing up an historic garden that had been there for well over 100 years (the Historic Society was not happy)! My husband called me and we started collecting bags of plants in pouring down rain, (and I still have some much cherished beauties in my yard ten years later, even dug them up and brought them with me when we moved). He said the man next door to the house stood at the edge of the yard with tears in his eyes, shaking his head when he saw what was happening. Jim replaced the plants with those humdrum shrubs that are easy to maintain and pruned within an inch of their life. Too too sad. I bet you'll miss the shimmering beauty of those aspens every fall ...

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  4. I have a hard time understanding how taking out the Aspens would make it easier to keep the yard up-Aspens are so easy. Such a shame! Hopefully when they redo the landscaping it will look very nice. Hey Jeanne, I wanted to ask if Dodger is a Westie?
    Hope you have a great day.
    Noreen

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  5. That should be against the law...
    crazy people!!!
    I love aspen...and how many leaves could they leave to clean up... really?
    I hope they don't put rock in the whole yard...yikes.

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  6. Sad. There's just no accounting for some people's taste, but it really sucks when it impacts your own yard, and life.

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  7. That is really too bad! Such a shame. It takes so long for trees to grow. I guess you could plant some of your own, right along the property border.... LOL

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  8. Awwwww, how very sad!!! How hard it to just let a tree grow. It's takes a lifetime to grow a beautiful tree.....all 14 of 'em!!!

    Booger~bite!!! I'm so sorry.

    God bless ya and have yourself sunshiny kinda day! :o)

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  9. We had to cut down some trees in our yard when they became a hazard. Hopefully, your neighbors' yard will look even better than before.

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  10. Oh Jeanie!!!! Your neighbors must be related to the @#$%^&! people who live next door to us!

    I wonder what they'll think of the missing trees once you are both staring at each other every time you're in the yard....

    We planted a WALL (and I mean a WALL) of shrubs on OUR property to remedy the situation.

    Ugh-- What a crazy thing for them to do.... without so much as a conversation about it.

    Ugh. xo jj

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  11. What a shame! It isn't always easy to live with a neighbor's landscaping decisions. We hve to move some of our plants this year because our neighbors' aspen trees are shading a corner of our yard too much for the plants we have there. I choose to look at this as an opportunity to plant a shade garden - I just hope they don't decide to cut down the trees!

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  12. We have a row of Cyprus tree's along or driveway..and they shield us from harsh winds. My husband planted them 50 years ago as a young man..
    I have only been married to him for 4 years in this June, but if someone found they were on their property and cut them all down with so much as a word..I am not at all sure how I would react! You two must be the nicest of neighbors..but of course what choice did you have if they were on their side of the property line. People who cut down tree's are ...NOT my friends. Probably a terrible thing to say, but I have planted 12 tree's since I married and moved here..and Lord help the person that harms them!
    Hugs! I am so sorry about those lovely tree's!
    Mona

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  13. Oh my gosh, how sad is that? What a dirty rotten crime. do they honestly know how long it took for God to grow those trees? Oh my...

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  14. That is a shame. I bet you will miss those trees. One wonders why the trees were a bother to take care of. Perhaps it was the raking of the leaves.

    I did have to remove all my aspen trees a few years ago because they were diseased. It turns out that aspen should not be cultivated and they do become diseased as they get older, so who knows perhaps these wouldn't have lasted long anyway. Maybe you can plant some more, or some other type of tree on your property line.

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  15. How sad to lose those mature trees! It takes forever for our aspens to grow at altitude. I agree - I'd miss them, too.

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  16. Oh, how AWFUL! I always feel sad when someone cuts down a tree - ANY tree. I'm sorry for you, too, it must look odd now. Perhaps you could plant some trees on your side of the lot line? That is expensive, though, isn't it...My neighbor came over once and asked permission to ADD trees next to his lot line - he didn't want to offend us! How funny - of course, I said it would be lovely, and they are.

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  17. That would be a shock. And emotionally disturbing. First of all, how could anyone cut down a tree when we need trees ever more. And then how will the two yards be separated without having to build a high fence. Oh my.

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